Suicide by carbon monoxide prompts evacuation of Randolph apartments

A man died Thursday from what authorities are calling a suicide by carbon monoxide. The building was evacuated and a hazardous materials team was called in.

Benjamin Paulin The Patriot Ledger @BPaulin_Ledger

RANDOLPH – The note on the door said 'Do not enter. Call poison control.'That was what Keith McGrory saw when he discovered a resident had died from suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning in an apartment in Randolph Thursday morning.

Authorities found a 64-year-old man dead in his bathroom with two charcoal hibachis sitting in the bathtub.

McGrory didn’t open the door and called police and then began knocking on residents' doors telling them to evacuate the building. A Tier 2 hazardous material unit was called in to respond.

The 61-year-old maintenance worker at the Westminster Arms apartment complex at 45 West St., had been working on cleaning the gutters around 7 a.m., when he noticed a strong odor coming from the third-floor apartment. Neighbors had been complaining about a strange smell in the days prior and seeing mice in the building.

After knocking on the front door of apartment 2C and not getting a response, McGrory said he took a ladder to the balcony, climbed up and entered through a sliding glass door.

“I went into his apartment and looked in his bedroom and there was nothing there. Then I went to the bathroom door and there was a sign saying ‘Do not enter. Call poison control,’ ” he said.

Authorities initially believed the victim might have killed himself by use of chemicals. It was later announced by state fire officials that the incident was a suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning.

"This (Thursday) morning’s case was not a chemical suicide, but rather appears to be suicide by CO poisoning,” Department of Fire Service spokeswoman Jennifer Mieth said.

“Detectives observed what appear to be multiple charcoal fires in metal containers that had long since burned out,” said David Traub, spokesman for the Norfolk County District Attorney’s office. “The bathroom where the victim was found showed indications of being sealed and secured from the inside. Charcoal briquettes burning indoors have been known to produce fatal levels of carbon monoxide.”

Traub said the death did not appear to involve foul play. Neighbors said the victim mostly kept to himself.

“He didn’t really talk to too many people. But we always saw each other in the hallways so we would have conversations from time to time,” said Shawn Davis, 28, who lived across the hall. “He told me he lost his job about four months ago. That was the last time I talked to him. I haven’t seen him in months and I was putting mail in front of his door because they were putting it in my mailbox.”

McGrory said the victim had his car repossessed two weeks ago and he was depressed.

Earlier this week residents began complaining of an odor in the building. “We thought it was a drain problem. We had the drain company coming. We had to call them and tell them not to come,” McGrory said.

Davis said he began seeing mice in his apartment on Monday, which was unusual. “There’s been mice in the apartment and we didn’t know where that was coming from. There was mice in everybody’s apartment,” said Davis.Another neighbor, Louise So, said she and the victim would exchange pleasantries when they saw each other in the building.

“The past couple days it smelled like old garbage. I thought it was the bathroom pipes,” So said. “He’s my neighbor. Every time I passed by he would say ‘Hi.’ He was a nice guy.”

Traub said people in the area and neighbors were not in any danger. Fire officials said the residents would return to their homes once their investigation was complete.

In 2007, a woman living in a Westminster Arms apartment drowned in the complex’s swimming pool. Davida Sandler, 53, died from what authorities at the time called an accidental drowning.